Abyss: Episode 12

Our heroine is on the verge of a shocking discovery, but with a villain as slippery as this one, it’s uncertain if knowing his identity will make a difference. Not to mention, there’s still a serial killer on the run who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

EPISODE 12: “Facing Evil”

Se-yeon calls the number Hee-jin’s mother had believed was Young-chul’s son’s. Hearing a phone ring, she follows the sound out into the hall and confronts Ji-wook. With a devilish grin, he tells her no one will believe her. Min shoves him off and Ji-wook saunters away as Se-yeon shakily tells Min about her discovery.

Dong-chul drops Hee-jin off at Mi-do’s to get some rest, but she’s determined to wash up and return to the hospital. When she walks back into the living room with clothes to bring, she finds 3 missed calls from Se-yeon. Before she can call back, however, the doorbell rings. It’s Ji-wook and he reveals himself to be her step-brother, begging for help before passing out.

As Hee-jin tends to Ji-wook she flashes back to their childhood when Ji-wook was being brutally beaten by Young-chul. Little Hee-jin cried out that she’s the one that broke something, but the fact that they lied only infuriates Young-chul further. It’s revealed this is the same memory where Ji-wook stood up for himself and Young-chul had told him it was pointless to fight back.

In the present, Ji-wook awakens and Hee-jin tearfully demands where he’s been. “Do you know what Mom and I went through after you left?” she barks. Ji-wook agrees he shouldn’t have run away and weakly apologizes. Hee-jin doesn’t respond, and instead asks how he got injured. “Oh Young-chul,” Ji-wook grunts, “That bastard found me.”

Since Hee-jin isn’t answering her calls, a worried Se-yeon decides to check on her. Min begs her to think of herself first, pointing out that she has barely slept or eaten in days. He says he’s been helping her catch Ji-wook her way because he knows she wouldn’t feel satisfied if Min took care of it himself, but pleads with her to consider how hard it is for him to watch her struggling.

Se-yeon admits she’s always pushed forward despite everyone warning her she’ll get hurt. “Do you know where that courage came from?” she asks, “You.” Se-yeon has never needed a fellow warrior, rather she’s relied on Min being her stability and likens him to the home she’s determined to return to after winning the battle. Pulling him into a hug, Se-yeon thanks him for that and as he holds her tightly, Min sighs that he can’t stop her, but asks that she take it easy.

Returning home, Ji-wook freezes at the sight of shoes in his entryway. Sure enough, Young-chul is waiting inside and chuckles that no one would ever expect to find a serial killer at a prosecutor’s place. Ji-wook snaps that Se-yeon’s already made the connection, chiding Young-chul for losing his temper and leaving their blood all over the crime scene. The real problem, however, is Hee-jin.

Ji-wook says he’s spoken to her and she’s promised not to help Se-yeon as long as her mother is kept alive. He adds that Hee-jin will visit Young-chul soon and then grimaces as his shoulder pains him. Young-chul says he didn’t actually come to talk and then stitches up Ji-wook’s wound before leaving.

The next morning, Dong-chul tells Se-yeon and Min that they could only trace the number to a burner phone. Se-yeon sighs that if they could prove Ji-wook was Young-chul’s son, that would be grounds for a reinvestigation. Dong-chul doubts Ji-wook would be up for a DNA test, and then Detective Choi pops in to say an angry woman is looking for Dong-chul.

They of course relocate to Subway (sans Min) where Mi-do barks that it’s all Dong-chul’s fault for not proposing to her sooner. He pouts that he had nothing to do with Min’s mother paying Mi-do’s parents a visit, but Mi-do ignores him and turns her anger on Se-yeon for having her face.. Se-yeon innocently points out Abyss’ rule of coming back with the appearance of the soul, wondering if she and Mi-do are actually soulmates since they’re both ill-tempered. Hee.

Se-yeon admits she feels bad having caused so much trouble for Mi-do, though, and Mi-do relents. She wonders if Min can really solve the issue with his mother and urges Se-yeon to rethink her relationship with Min since his mother will be a difficult in-law.

Meanwhile, Min’s mother is adamant she’s done no wrong. Min questions whether she’s done this with every girl he’s dated and Mom scoffs that after getting dumped by Se-yeon, Hee-jin and “Mi-do” are the only ones he’s been involved with. Min can’t understand why she interferes at all and Mom snaps that she hasn’t liked any of his girlfriends. She sheepishly admits to doing background checks and putting a tracker on Hee-jin’s phone, much to Min’s chagrin.

At the hospital, Hee-jin flashes back to her conversation with Ji-wook. After learning Young-chul had approved Ji-wook’s adoption, Hee-jin questioned why he’d come after Ji-wook again. Ji-wook said Young-chul was talking nonsense about being reborn using a “marble” and Hee-jin. She’d understood immediately what he meant and in the present Hee-jin is thrilled to see her mother open her eyes.

Dong-chul drops by Ji-wook’s office where the secretary tells him Ji-wook is still out on sick leave. Dong-chul says Ji-wook told him to pick something up from the office and darts inside to look for something with Ji-wook’s DNA. Unfortunately, he’s unable to find anything before Ji-wook walks into the office and asks what he’s doing.

Unable to think of an excuse, Dong-chul admits that the blood found at the scene belongs to Young-chul’s son and he believes Ji-wook to be that son. Ji-wook scoffs and Dong-chul laughs nervously, agreeing that it sounds absurd, but suggesting they go clear it up with a DNA test. Ji-wook calls Dong-chul out on investigating off the record with nothing but his own suspicion and demands to know who’s in charge of the case.

Dong-chul argues that if there’s nothing to hide, there’s no reason not to submit his DNA. Ji-wook’s adoptive father, Judge Seo, joins them and tells Ji-wook to hand over his DNA. Despite Ji-wook’s protests, Judge Seo offers his own DNA as comparison. He threatened, however, to hold Dong-chul responsible if the results came back in their favor.

As he leaves with the samples, Dong-chul worries over Judge Seo’s confidence but calls Se-yeon to report the good news. Upstairs, Ji-wook asks if Judge Seo has given up, but his adoptive father argues they’d have gotten a DNA sample whether Ji-wook cooperated or not. He chalks it up to karma and leaves Ji-wook seething.

Meanwhile, Se-yeon whines at Min that at such a critical time, she’s following him around as his secretary. Min receives a call reporting on Se-yeon’s parents’ stay at his vacation home and she instantly backpedals. Min gently reminds her it’d look bad if she wasn’t with him and the DNA test will take time anyway.

Se-yeon watches as Min walks around a beauty counter, checking on his product, and admits that he does look attractive when he’s working. Other women soon take notice of Min, however, and Se-yeon grows irritated as a crowd gathers. Min’s oblivious, and afterwards happily holds Se-yeon’s purse while she uses the bathroom. His face falls when he receives a call from Hee-jin and she asks about Abyss.

The women in the bathroom continue to gossip about Min and Se-yeon smiles as she steps out and smugly thanks Min for waiting. Min suddenly asks Se-yeon to wait for him while he buys something, but she pouts that he wouldn’t even let her use the restroom alone. She insists on going with him and Min nervously leads her to a jewelry counter.

Se-yeon offers to just browse while he does his business, loudly cooing over a necklace. Min picks up a repaired item and Se-yeon is bummed that was his only objective. As they leave, Se-yeon gets a call from Dong-chul to say Hee-jin is gone. She left a note saying she no longer wished to burden them and that she’ll contact them once she’s settled.

Dong-chul says the security footage shows Hee-jin and her mother leaving of their own accord. Meanwhile, Ji-wook leaves work and is surprised to see Hee-jin waiting for him. She asks where she can find Young-chul.

At the station, Dong-chul is watching the news report on Young-chul’s escape when their chief storms in and slaps Dong-chul across the face. He throws down the DNA results which show a perfect match and shouts ad Dong-chul to submit his gun and get out. Without a word, Dong-chul throws down his badge and cuffs and walks out.

In his own office, Judge Seo tucks away the bag with Ji-wook’s DNA just as Ji-wook enters the room. Ji-wook guesses Judge Seo covered it up, but Judge Seo just says he didn’t do it for Ji-wook and walks out. Ji-wook wonders how Judge Seo collected DNA from his real son in order to switch the samples as Judge Seo drives off towards the nursing home.

At home, Se-yeon receives a call from Dong-chul and learns about the DNA results. Se-yeon fears her memory is faulty but Min points out there’s a lot of evidence stacked against Ji-wook and it would be easy for him and his “father” to fake the results.

That night, Se-yeon can’t sleep so Min takes her outside to a spot overlooking the city. As they lie on a blanket and stare at the stars, Min admits to being selfish because even though he knows Se-yeon has been having a hard time, he’s been happy to be with her and help her. Se-yeon laughs that it’s the same for her and adds that she’s able to live her life more honestly the second time around.

Se-yeon admits that she’s liked Min many times in the past and he stutters that she shouldn’t lie about such things. Popping up, Se-yeon snaps that she’s telling the truth and points out that they’ve been together twenty years. Min argues that she’s always rejected him, and Se-yeon sighs that she always intended to accept after rejecting him first, but Min would draw back and say she was better off with someone else, confusing her.

Min grumbles that her rejections were harsh and Se-yeon retorts that she hasn’t rejected him at all lately, and in fact they’ve kissed and slept in the same bed. She demands when he’ll ask her out, whining that he’s so bad with timing. As she speaks, Min swoops in for a kiss. When they break away, Min pulls the necklace Se-yeon had picked out from his pocket. Fastening it around her neck, he chides her for being so impatient.

He grows serious and says they should stop being friends and go steady and Se-yeon can’t help but laugh at his cheesy confession. Min pulls out his phone to try another, but it’s even worse. As he’s scrolling to the next one, Se-yeon pulls him into a kiss and thanks him. “I really really like you, Se-yeon-ah,” Min says and asks her to be his girlfriend and Se-yeon happily agrees.

Se-yeon wonders if the aliens that gave them Abyss are watching. She laments not having another Abyss to revive Einstein or Steve Jobs and become rich. Min grumbles there’s more to life than money. Se-yeon asks what and gets chills when Min replies, “You.” She scampers away as Min cringely repeats that she’s his everything, neither aware for the cardboard man watching them with a smile. Hmm…

They next morning, Min pulls up to the house and smiles at Se-yeon sleeping in the passenger seat. He starts to lean in, but his phone rings and Park Gi-man arranges to meet that evening. Gi-man hangs up, but just as he turns a corner in his taxi, a little girl rushes out into the street. He slams on the breaks and luckily her mother shields her in time.

Gi-man leaps out to check on them, but both mother and daughter are fine. He suggests they go to a hospital to be sure and hands her his business card when the mother insists they’re fine. They part ways, but a passerby takes notice of the incident and his face breaks into a grin as he calls someone to say there’s an easy way to corner Gi-man.

Soon after, men are banging on Gi-man’s door. The men identify themselves as officers and drag Gi-man down to the station on charges of a hit-and-run. Gi-man offers his black box as evidence but the officers claim there’s no memory card. They also insist that the mother was pregnant and admitted to the hospital afterwards.

Se-yeon and Min wait for Gi-man but he neither shows nor answers his phone. Dong-chul agrees to look into his whereabouts and Se-yeon receives a text from Hee-jin asking to meet up. Meanwhile, Hee-jin confirms with Young-chul that the text is satisfactory and he promises that once this is over, he, Hee-jin, and her mother can start a new life together. Luckily, our trio is now wary of Hee-jin’s actions and Dong-chul calls for a patrol unit to join them as they go to meet her.

Young-chul waits at an abandoned warehouse and waves Hee-jin up to him as Se-yeon, Min, and Dong-chul arrive at the designated place… a motel? Hee-jin joins Young-chul and he asks where Se-yeon is just as Se-yeon runs into a room and finds the nurse that helped Young-chul escape. The woman tries to run out, but she’s quickly caught and arrested.

Se-yeon searches the room but comes up empty. Her phone buzzes and she rushes out to show Min the text from Hee-jin explaining that Young-chul kidnapped her mother in order to force Hee-jin to help him use Abyss. Luckily, Young-chul doesn’t really understand how Abyss works and she plans to use that against him She signs off by apologizing to Min and thanking Se-yeon for everything.

Hee-jin tells Young-chul Se-yeon isn’t coming and she won’t be saving him with Abyss, either. Young-chul hits her and Hee-jin manages to swipe the syringe from his pocket. She holds it to her neck and spits that she’d die before ever helping him again.

As Young-chul’s female accomplice is loaded into a squad car, Se-yeon is frantic that she can’t reach Hee-jin. Dong-chul curses being on probation at such a critical time, but Min suddenly remembers his mother had put a tracker on Hee-jin’s phone and calls her to use it. He soon gets a location and the trio run off to intervene.

Hee-jin watches grainy footage of Ji-wook in a gas mask dragging a canister into a room where Hee-jin’s mother is tied to a chair. He twists the knob on the canister and leaves as the room begins to fill with toxic gas. Young-chul grins and tells her that her mother is somewhere in the building and he’s the only one that knows the password, tsking that she actually trusted Ji-wook.

They freeze at the sound of sirens as Dong-chul pulls up next to a patrol car outside the building. Se-yeon snatches a megaphone and screeches that she’ll kill Young-chul if he lays a hand on Hee-jin. The distraction is enough for Young-chul to snatch the syringe back. He tells Hee-jin they have just enough time to revive him with a new face so he can escape before the police arrive. He hands Abyss to Hee-jin and jabs the syringe into his heart. As he’s dying, Hee-jin can’t help but cackle. She reveals that his appearance is that of his soul and it will remain the same for eternity.

“Oh, and one more thing,” she adds as words begin to form across Abyss, “Cha Min is the only one who can bring you back to life.” The new rule reads: “If the temporary owner of Abyss dies, Abyss returns to its original owner.” Outside the police rush the building and Young-chul tries to run, slamming Hee-jin into the wall but she holds him back. She wheezes that they should just both die, for everyone’s sake. They both finally pass out just as officers find them and are rushed to the hospital.

Hee-jin wakes up and weakly asks where her mother is, but Se-yeon says she wasn’t anywhere in the building. Dong-chul takes Se-yeon and Min out to a crime scene where Hee-jin’s mother’s body has been dumped. Se-yeon plucks a family photo from Hee-jin’s mother’s hand of Young-chul, her, Hee-jin and Ji-wook (with his face scratched out). Tears fill her eyes as she grips it tightly, not seeing Abyss as it floats down and lands in Min’s hand.

In the ICU, Young-chul’s monitor flatlines as Ji-wook stalks out of the building.

COMMENTS

I can’t say I’m at all sad to see Young-chul go and I probably would’ve appreciated his story line more if it had been condensed. He’s still a bad villain, but Ji-wook makes up for that in spades. I only wish he’d been allowed to take center stage sooner! There’s a lot of complexity with his character that Young-chul lacked. Even after all this time, Ji-wook’s motivations are still very murky. If his only goal was to escape Young-chul, there was no need to actually go through with killing Hee-jin’s mother… or to even assist Young-chul as much as he had. Honestly, I’m not sure why he hadn’t helped Se-yeon put Young-chul away sooner. As we saw this episode, even if Young-chul tried to claim Ji-wook was his son, it would be easy enough to manipulate the DNA test. And by the time Young-chul was arrested, he was rambling like a madman about a glowing marble no one else could see… so who would even have believed him if Ji-wook decided to stop playing by his rules? He either had held on to some evidence regarding Ji-wook’s identity swap or Ji-wook has other reasons for the things he does.

Either way, Ji-wook has already exposed himself to Hee-jin so he’ll need to tie up that loose end as well as Se-yeon and Min. I was annoyed when he reunited with Hee-jin because I feared her character was going to backpedal. I can understand her loyalty to the brother that protected her and shared her horrific childhood, but in the end, he’d left while Se-yeon and Min had continued to help despite all the times Hee-jin had screwed them over. So it was a relief when we saw that Hee-jin figured out Young-chul’s flawed plan early and decided to use it against him. It’s been a nice character growth arc for Hee-jin and I appreciate that the person that killed Young-chul in the end wasn’t her, but Ji-wook. Young-chul was really his demon to defeat and although there were certainly better ways to do it, at least this is one murder that isn’t going to haunt him.

So lots of questions still on Ji-wook and Judge Seo and whatever the frickety-frack happened with Judge Seo’s family. It’s clear even Ji-wook isn’t aware that the real Seo Ji-wook is still alive, albeit in vegetable form, so I’m really curious how all of that is going to play in. Plus Gi-man’s role. Why does he know about Ji-wook’s identity and who was it that orchestrated tying him up at the station, Ji-wook or Judge Seo? I really can’t understand why Gi-man didn’t call Min to explain what was happening since our heroes could easily clear that mess up, but the plot transitions are a little messy to begin with. And my final question is, I’ve noticed that Abyss changes color each time it’s used, so is there a finite number of revivals?

We had a lot of wins this hour, but a lot of losses along with them. Young-chul is dead, his female accomplice is arrested, Hee-jin is safe, and Min and Se-yeon are official. The downside, of course, Ji-wook is still at large, Judge Seo is sketchy as all getout, Dong-chul is unfairly suspended, Gi-man is tied up in a bogus hit-and-run charge so he can’t tell anyone his secrets… again… and Hee-jin’s mother was murdered for no darn reason. Abyss continues to baffle, but we’re nearing the end and at this point, I’m too far in to quit. Luckily Se-yeon and Min make a super cute couple so if we can just fluff up the remaining episodes with more of that and less senseless death, that’d be nice.

June 20, 2019 at 5:02 AM

I just don’t get the logic of this writer. After the altercation between Young Chul and Ji Wook I couldn’t believe Young Chul showed up in Ji Wook’s place and they acted as if they weren’t trying to murder each other hours before. I couldn’t believe he actually came to stitch him up (so consistent with poor Hee Jin’s experience, she didn’t die because he was too skilled a doctor). This is one sick relationship. Thank God Young Chul is gone.

At the beginning of the show I expected Mi Do to be this very annoying sunbae. One of the few nice surprises of this show is Mi Do turning out to be one of the best things in it. I want more Mi Do. She is great with Dong Chul as well as Se Yeon.

I also find the coupe quite cute together so I'd be happy with more of that as well.

June 20, 2019 at 5:56 AM

UNREGISTERED

It seems like the plot is just going in circles repeating itself. Given Lee Sung Jae’s key role in the drama I expect him to be revived in the next episode as we can’t have the main villain die before the final episode.

June 24, 2019 at 2:16 PM

June 20, 2019 at 7:16 AM

UNREGISTERED

Finally dead! Let us hope he stays that way. I am sick of the writers heavy handed loading of the deck on the side of the bad guys. So, lets go revive mom, get back to the romance and make the son pay for his sins.

June 20, 2019 at 2:27 PM

UNREGISTERED

I really hope Mom can be revived completely healthy ! Not Young-chul again! I think he'll be revived though.
Hadn't Young-chul seen Min the same before and after his revival? Or maybe he didn't actually see Min after and assumed his appearance changed? And thats why he made his plan? Not sure about this.
What was that old man neighbour doing at Se-yeon and Min's night out? For a second I thought it was Young-chul. Could that old man be an alien watching them? :P
Yeah @sunny I've been in it way too long too to stop now!

June 21, 2019 at 9:06 PM

UNREGISTERED

The show reads (yeah, I'm not actually watching) like trash, but I found myself both frustrated and concerned that you guys had given up on recapping.

I have no intention of watching it, but I still wanna know where this train finally ends. It sounds like a wreck, but there's levels to wrecks and I want to know how badly this one ends. So thanks for sticking it out!

July 6, 2019 at 1:13 PM

UNREGISTERED

This might not be a popular opinion...but it's mine. The female lead has her comical moments, but sometimes it's so hard to believe in Se Yeon as a competent prosecutor. She has no self-discipline or control whatever and constantly goes into impromptu outbreaks of emotion, fighting with people, breaking rules and pushing people to do her bidding (i.e. our passive police officer) like she did in this episode, grabbing the loudspeaker and yelling up at Yeo Cheol that she'll kill him if he harms Hee-Jin. She barges into places & situations without concern for the safety of others or herself, and always insists on her way of doing things. Definitely the overbearing traits of a narcissist. After all she's been through since changing from beautiful to ordinary, she's still quite arrogant. No changes or character growth from what I've seen. And finally, before I get off my soapbox, she is also still so condescending to Min...bragging about being a "warrior", while he's her haven of comfort she can return to after her battles with life. Isn't this what the hero felt towards his lady in the older dramas? But now that women are claiming new ground in the work force & at home, instead of equalizing the gender field, lately in dramas writers are just flipping the roles and now were seeing a lot of female leads who act like the Chaebols of old...being dominating, arrogant & bullying. Se Yeon fits a lot of that for me. She's been a condescending overbearing prosecutor, while the men around her (Min and the detective especially ) stay passive and follow her around. Park Bo-young's role in Strong-woman Do Bong-Soon" was popular for this reason too maybe, although she had a 'Super-power Strength' which gave her an automatic reason for her confidence and swagger...but her character softened a lot in that drama while Se Yeon still hasn't. Strong Woman's male lead, Park Hyun Sik was adorable in the way he tried to protect her as well, but she always stayed the 'boss of him' too. Yes, it's nice to see strong independent female leads, but not at the expense of demeaning the male roles by making them so passive and less intelligent. I'm guessing this a natural step in the emancipation of women from previous stereotypical roles, but not when they are veering towards characters like self-inflated Se Yeon who reacted to Min's many phrasing attempts to ask her to be his girlfriend with laughter, calling him 'cheesy'. Ouch. Still treating him like she did before...thoughtless & smug. Hopefully once we tire of watching women impersonating the old male stereotypes we can move on to a better mix of authentic women...some strong at heart, yet gentle; some fierce...yet quiet...and some who lead by example..not orders. Whew..sorry to go on about this but it's been sitting on the outbox of my mind for a while now.

September 1, 2019 at 1:13 AM

UNREGISTERED

I'm curious still as to why the cardboard man was watching Min and Se Yeon on their date. I'm hoping it's nothing bad any maybe he's one of the alien entities from the first episode watching over the guy they gave Abyss to. But maybe that's wishful thinking.